Justice Shakeup
by teej.318
Summary: In the wake of the Delia Wilson and Bart Ganzel trafficking scandal and the framing of Captain Cragen, what role did ADAs Alex Cabot and Casey Novak play? Takes place during the Season 13 finale and Season 14 opener.


Benson and Cragen walked into the captain's office. They stopped in the doorway when they saw someone sitting in front of the desk. The woman turned around and stood up.

"Isn't it a little early for you to be involved in the case, counselor?" asked Cragen.

"I wish, Captain," replied Assistant District Attorney Alexandra Cabot. "Unfortunately, with the police commissioner's son involved in this, the DA wants to keep a close eye on the case. Cutter asked me to come in so you two can bring me up to speed."

"Or he's watching to see if we'll drop it if he asks," mused Benson.

"Liv, you know Mike better than that," Cragen said as he sat down at his desk and Benson sat down next to Cabot. "He won't try to shut us down."

Benson looked as if she agreed with him, but turned to Cabot with a questioning expression.

"What do you think?"

"Mike won't shut you down as long as you have a case," Cabot replied. "But he is gonna want regular check-ins from me and from Casey."

"He's sending Novak in on this, too?"

"Yeah, I know. We're both being pulled from cases we'd rather be working, but there's gonna be a Bull's-eye on this case from the top down. The DA just wants to make sure this is handled by the book. So, where are we?"

"We're just getting started," Cragen answered. "A girl died at the bachelor's party for Will. So far, it's a little too early to tell exactly how he died. The story goes is that Will's friend Clayton Hanningan, who hosted the party at his apartment, found the girl's body in the swimming pool and jumped in to try and save her."

"But you don't buy his story?" Cabot prompted.

Cragen shrugged. Cabot turned to Olivia, who looked more hesitant.

"I don't think it adds up," she said. "Everyone was trying to get out of there when we arrived, but they got stuck on the service elevator. Will seemed hesitant on even basic questioning. He even tried to tell me he knew I was in a tough spot. It was like he wanted me to back down on my questioning."

"Well, it's probably a good thing you didn't interview him any further," said Cabot. "His lawyers could've tried to turn his statements against us if this goes any further than it already has. Do you know anything about the victim?"

"Only that she's pretty young," Olivia replied. "Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if she was underage, as young as she looks. Warner is running tests on the victim's teeth to try and identify her. If she is underage, we'll be looking at several counts of statutory rape."

"Hold up, Liv," said Cragen. "Even if she was underage, there is no way to prove that anyone at the party knew she was."

"Come on, Captain, a girl that young? She's not gonna flash her ID at the fully-grown men she's servicing. And they're not gonna bother checking, even if they do have a conscious. They were too hyped up on drugs and alcohol to think clearly, let alone check to see if a child is at the party performing sex acts."

"I get it, Liv," said Cabot. "But even if she does turn out to be younger than 18, it's going to be tough as hell to prove anybody at the party knew that. Do we know who she was working for?"

Cragen shook his head again. "At this point, we're still just trying to figure out who she is. Once Warner has gotten back to us on identifying the girl, we'll see show she was working for. Odds are she was part of an escort service."

"In the meantime, head back over to the apartment," Cabot said. "Re-interview Mr. Hannigan and try to shake his story. Get him to tell you exactly what happened. Once you've done that and identified the girl, give me a call and we'll figure out where to go from there."

Cragen nodded. "And if we need any warrants?"

"Mike will take care of it as quickly as possible."

"OK," said Cragen. "Thanks for coming in, Alex."

Cabot stood up and shook Cragen's hand and gave Benson a pat on the shoulder.

"Keep me posted," Cabot said before she turned and walked out of the office, shutting the door behind her.

Cragen took a deep breath before he spoke again.

"I should've known this case was gonna be harder than most," he mused.

"DA's moving pretty quick," Olivia said, nodding. "He probably wants to watch us to make sure we don't 'rush to judgment.' Whatever. We'll afford Will the same rights as everyone else."

"Just make sure he knows it," Cragen said. "You and Amaro go back to the apartment and re-interview our witness. I'll call Warner and see where we're at on identifying this girl."


End file.
